Control device



April 9, 1946. E. J. D-II.LMAN 2,398,086

CONTROL DEVICE Filed Feb. 18, 'l944 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Dzee BY 44v ATTORNEY Filed Feb. 18, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.3

INVEN TOR.

, ATTORNEY E. J. DILLMAN 2,398,086

Patented Apr. 9, 1946 CONTROL DEVICE Earnest J. Dillman, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Detroit Lubricator Company, Detroit, Mich, a.

corporation of Michigan Application February 18, 1944, Serial No. 522,873

9 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in valves for controlling the flow of fluid fuel to the burner of a heating apparatus, and more particularly to a valve which is automatically operable from a remote point, such for example as the space to be heated by the apparatus.

An object of the invention is to provide an electrically operable valve with manuall operable means utilizab-le to open the valve in the event of current failure.

Another object is to provide safety means for closing the valve irrespective of operation of the automatic or manual valve opening means.

Another object is to provide interrelated valve operating means such that closure of the valve is not opposed by operation of another of a means tending to hold the valve in open position.

The invention consists in the improved construction and cooperative relation of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed.

In the, accompanying drawings to be taken as a part of this specification, there is fully and clearly illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan View partly in section taken on the line l-i of Fig, 2 showing certain of the valve operating mechanism of the inven- 1 tion;

Fig. 2 is a View of the valve in front elevation but with certain parts broken away and certain parts in section to more clearly show the invention and with the valve operatively related to a heating apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a detail View of the thermostatic power element and certain of the valve actuating mech anism connected thereto and taken in section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail view in section on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail view on line 55 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a view of the valve similar to Fig. 2 but showing the position of the parts upon manual opening of the valve.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, I designates generall a, heating apparatus which may be a boiler or furnace having a fluid fuel burner 2 which may have a pilot burner i and which is connected by a fluid fuel conduit 3 to the outlet 4 of the automatic control valve generally designated 5. The valve casing 6 has an inlet 1 for connection to a suitable source of fluid fuel, such as gas, and contains a valve port 8 controlled by a reciprocal valve member 9. Extending upward from the member there is a valve stem 10 which extends through the valve casing bonnet H, in which there is a diaphragm type sealing member [2 to prevent leakage around the stem l0. Mounted on the bonnet H and secured thereto by screws i 3, there is a rectangular housing member 14 having a bottom wall I5 and opposed end walls it, ll, Cooperable with the end. and bottom Walls there is a cover member ll! of inverted generally U-shaped cross section which may have end flanges to engag the outer faces of the end walls I 5 and I1. Supported on the bonnet H within the housing member I! there is a cylindrical permanent magnet l9 having a vertical aperture 20 therethrough through which the stem l0 extends for free reciprocation. Fixed rigidly on and surrounding the stem 10, there is an armature 2! in the form of a collar having upper and lower spaced annular flanges 22, 23 respectively. The upper end portion of the stem [0 is guided for reciprocation in a cross bar or member 24 carried by front and rear posts 25, 26 respectively, the rear post being omitted for clarity in Figs. 2 and 6.

Carried by the end wall 11, there is a U-shaped supporting bracket 21 having vertically positioned front and rear supporting arms 28, 29 respectively. Rockably mounted on and between the arms 28, 29, there is a. supporting bar or member so having parallel upper and lower faces. Seated against the under face of the bar 30 is one end of a bimetal heat motor 3| in the form of a truncated triangular plate or blade having an electric heating coil 32. The terminals 33, 34 of the coil 32 are connected by conductor strips 35, 36 respectively to terminal posts 31, 38 respectively, carried by a panel 39 of insulating material mounted on the external face of the wall H. The terminals 31, 38 are connected by lead Wires to a control switch 38a which may be a room thermostat or other automatic switch at a desired point of temperature control. Seating on the top face of the bar 30 in overlying relation to the heat motor 3|, there is a bimetal compensating member 40 which is also of truncated triangular form and which is so related to the heat water plate 3| that upon operation of the heating coil 32 it will flex or bow downward, thereby to rock the supporting member 30 counterclockwise facing Fig. 2. This compensating bowing 0r flexing of the blade 40 will reduce the. time lapse for closure of the valve member upon deenergization of the coil 38. The blades 3| and 40 are tightly secured to the bar 30 by nuts and bolts 4|. The free end of the blade 3| has an extension 42 which lies between the flanges 22, 23 and is engageable with the under face of the flange 22 to move the valve member 9 to open position upon operation of the coil 32 to heat the blade 3| which, when energized, exerts suflicient force to overcome the attractive force of the magnet l9 for its armature 2|. The resilience of the blade 3| will, upon storing of sufficient force therein to overcome the attractive force of the magnet I9, cause the valve member 9 to be opened with a quick substantially snap action. It may be noted that the magnet |9 has sufllcient magnetic pull or force so that it will move the valve member 9 quickly to closed position from a position in which the valve is substantially 25% open. The magnet i9 is also adjusted so that the armature 2| will not make contact therewith even when the valve member 9 is fully closed and so that an air gap will be maintained between the armature and magnet. The heat motor end portion 42 may have a downturned tongue 43 engageable with the upper face of the flange 23 to urge the valve member 9 toward closed position, in the event the valve member should fail to move toward closed position when it is released by the cooling of the blade 3|.

The free end portion 44 of the compensating blade 40 seats on an adjustable abutment member 45 preferably in the form of a screw which is screw-threaded in the free end portion 46 of a combined actuating and holding or positioning lever 41 which is mounted on a supporting shaft 48. Seating against the inside face of end wall and supported on the bottom wall |5 there is a supporting member having a vertical end wall 49 and from which extent front and rear flanges 50, 5| respectively which are apertured to receive the ends of the shaft 48. The flanges 50, 5| have outturned cars 52 which seat on the bottom wall l5 and to which they are secured by screws 53. Mounted on the shaft 48 there is an operating lever 54 which supports and is operable to move the lever 41. The lever 54 has an end stop portion 55 seatable against the underface of a stop member or flange 56 carried by the valve stem guiding cross bar 24. Rotatably supported by a stub shaft 51 journaled in the lever 54, there is a manual valve operating member 58 having an eccentric cam 59 positioned in a horizontal slot 80 through the lever 41. The cam 59 engages the top and bottom walls of the slot 69 and so that upon rotation of the 4 member 58, the lever 41 will be raised or lowered relative to the lever 54. In order to hold the lever 41 in its normal supporting position for the blade 48 and rockable supporting member 30, a leaf spring member 8|, see Fig. 5, is secured on the stub shaft 51 and has its end portions cupped to seat in recesses 62 in the rear face of the lever 54 so that the cam 59 will be releasably held at the limits of either its upward or downward movement. The supporting member end wall 49 has a substantially rectangular aperture 63 which has its lower marginal edge portion inwardly oilset, as at 64, to provide a hinglng support. Secured to the support 54 there is a hinge strip 85 of resilient sheet metal which may be beryllium copper. Secured to the free ed f the strip 65 is the base portion 66 of a generally U-shaped lever having front and rear arms 61, 68. The arm 61 may be provided with stop portions fil engageable with the bottom wall |5 to limit clockwise or downward rotation of the arms '81, 68. Extending between the arms 31, 58 there is a rod 69 to which there is anchored, as at 18, see Fig. 4, one end of a helical coil tensioned spring II which extends upward between the arms 61, 68. The upper end portion of the spring H is secured to a nut 12 which is held against rotation by front and rear guide arms 13, 14, vertically reciprocal in guide slots I5 in the flange members 50, 5|. The front guide arm 13 may also serve as a pointer or indicator cooperable with indicia marked on the wall 50 along the side edge of the front slot 15, thereby to indicate the temperature setting of the spring 1|. Extending through and screw-threaded in the nut 12, there isvan adjustment screw 15 havin rigid therewith a manual adjustment knob 11 which seats on a plate portion 18 extending from the top edge of the supporting member wall 49 and secured by a screw 19 to the cross member 24. The lever arms 81, 58 and the spring H are connected to-the supporting lever 54 bya link having one end seating on and apertured to receive the rod 69, as at 8|, and having its other end pivotally secured by a screw 82 to the rear face of the lever 54.

Through the wall l6 there is an aperture 83 aligned with a conical recess 84 in the lever base portion 66. Extending through, the aperture 83 and seating in the recess 84 against the lever base portion 65, there is a thrust member 85 forming part of a thermostatic actuator or temperature responsive power element 86. The actuator 86 has a cup like casing 81 which is secured by screws 88 to the wall l6. Hermetically sealing and positioned within the casing 81, there is a metal bellows 89 having an endwall 89" to which the thrust member 85 is secured. The bellows 89, with its end wall 89, cooperates with the casing 86 to provide an expansible, contractible chamber 98 which is communicatively connected by a capillary tube 9| to a feeler bulb 92 which is charged with a volatile liquid operable upon temperature increase at the bulb 92 to expand the chamber 99, thus forcing the thrust member 85 outward or to the right facing Fig. 3. The bulb 92 is positioned for response to the temperature of the medium heated by the burner 2 and is preferably inserted through the wall of the heating apparatus into the plenum chamber or boiler water space, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The operation of the control valve is as follows: The spring H which determines the maximum desired safe limit at which the valve is to be closed is adjusted by the grip member 11, so that the pressure generated or transmitted to the chamber of the thermostatic actuator 83, sufllcient to overcome the spring and close the valve, will occur at a temperature of say F. for example, as indicated by the indicator arm 13. When the electric circuit is closed to the terminals 31, 38 as by closure of switch 38 so that the coil 32 is energized, the heat of this coil will warp the heat motor blade 3| and stress or urge the end portion 42 upwardly. When the force built up in the blade 3| is sufllcient to overcome the attractive force of magnet l9 for its armature 2|, then the valve member 9 will be opened quickly to supply gas or fluid fuel through the conduit 3 to the burner 2. Rise of temperature within the control device housing M will act on the compensating blade 40 and bow it downward, thereby rocking the supporting member 38 in a counterclockwise direction facing Fig. 2 so that the force of the blade 3| against the flange 22,

and tending to hold the valve member 9 in open position, will be reduced. Accordingly, when the circuit to the terminals 3'5, 38 is broken to deenergize the coil 32, the lag or cooling time of the blade 3|, prior to its straightening movement which will lowe the valve member 9 toward closed position, will be reduced and the valve will close more quickly. As soon as the straight ening of the blade 3| moves the armature flange 23 sufficiently into the field of the magnet l9 so that the force of the magnet will overcome the resilience of the blade 3! and which occurs when the valve member 9 is say about one quarter open, then the magnet will pull the armature quickly downward to seat the valve with a quick substantially snap action, thereby avoiding flashing back at the burner 2. With the valve member 9 in open position, the burner 2 will be heating the medium in the apparatus I to which the bulb 92 is subjected. If the temperature of the medium should now rise to the desired maximum temperature above which temperature it is not desired that the medium shall be heated, then the fluid pressure in the thermostatic actuator chamber 90 will have moved the thrust member 85 outward or toward the right facing the drawings. This outward plunger movement will rock the lever arms 61, 68 downward against the force of spring II and will pull the link 85 downward to rotate levers 54 and t! in a clockwise direction on the supporting shaft 48 from the position of Fig. 2 or the dotted line position A of Fig. 6. When the downward movement of the levers i! and 54 moves the lever end portion and the compensating blade abutment support downward to the dotted line position B of Fig. 6, then the armature 2! will have approached the magnet l9 sufiiciently closely so that the magnet will overcome the resilience of the heated blade 3! and pull the valve member 9 to full closed position. If the temperature at the bulb 92 now decreases so that the spring '2'! can pull the link 80 upward against the force of the thermostatic actuator 35, then when the upward tension of the spring 1| has rocked the supporting member 30 in a clockwise direction sufiiciently to store energy in the resilient blade 3| sufiicient to overcome the force of the magnet, then the valve member 9 will be snapped to open position to again supply gas to the burner 2 for ignition by the pilot burner 2 It will be apparent that the thermostatic actuator 85 will provide for throttling movement of the valve member 9 during its movement of the abutment support 55 between the positions A and B, thereby tending to I hold the temperature of the heated medium substantially at the maximum desired limit. If the current supply or the heating of the blade 3! should fail for any reason, the valve member 9 can be manually opened by rotating the manual operating member 53 which will rotate the cam 59 in its slot 60, thereby rotating the lever l! upward relative to the lever 54 and to the position shown in Fig. 6. The half rotation through 180 of the cam 59 will move the valve member 9 to say full open position and the cam will be locked in position by the leaf spring 5|. This manual opening movement by the lever 4'! will lift the abutment support 45 to the position of Fig. 6, which will rock the supporting member 38 clockwise and so tension the resilient blade 3| that it will overcome the attractive force of the magnet l9 and its end portion 42, bearing against the flange 22, will move the valve stem HJ upward and the valve member 9 to open position. The consequent heating of the medium in the apparatus I will act as above described to move the thrust member 85 outward and the link downward against the force of the spring ii, throttling the valve member 9 between the full line position, Fig. 6, of the support 45 and its dotted line position C. If the temperature of the heated medium increases above the desired safe temperature such as to move the support 45 downward from the position C, then the armature 2| will be sufiiciently in the field of the magnet l9 so that the magnet acting on its armature will quickly pull the valve member 9 to full closed position. There is a possibility that there may have been manual opening of the valve and thereafter the supply of current to the coil 32 may again be brought on so as to urge the valve toward open position in addition to its being held. in open position by the manual rotation of the supporting member 35. Accordingly, the downward movement of the support 55 will not move the armature 2i sufficiently into the field of the magnet IE to close the valve at the setting of the spring H but since the lever arms 6?, 68 can have continued movement prior to engagement of the stop fingers 6! with the bottom wall l5, the valve member 8 will be closed at a somewhat higher temperature of the thermostatic actuator. This higher temperature of the actuator and heating medium will be such as will move the support 45 from its position C to the position 13 of Fig. 6, at which the magnet 59 will close the valve member 9 when the blade 3| is heated and the support 45 is in normal position, designated A.

It will be apparent that the actuator may be operated directly by fluid pressure, such as steam pressure of a boiler, by merely providing an open end tube or conduit member leading from the chamber into the steam space of the heating apparatus 1. Accordingly, the thrust member 85 is movable by either pressure or temperature as a characteristic of the medium heated by the burner 2.

What is claimed and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a quick-acting fuel flow controlling valve magnetically biased toward closed position, automatic means for moving said valve toward open position, means responsive to a characteristic of the medium heated by the burner for closing said valve, a resilient actuator operatively connecting said responsive means to said automatic means, said responsive means acting through said automatic means to effect closure of said valve, manual means acting through said resilient actuator for opening said valve, said manual means acting to place said actuator under stress thereby to overcome the valve bias and quickly open said valve.

2. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a fuel flow controlling valve biased to closed posi-- tion, a rockable supporting member, a heat motor carried by and rigidly fixed at one end to said supporting member and having its other end operatively connected to said valve, movable lever means holding said supporting member in po sition against the force of said heat motor for operation of said valve by said heat motor, and means to hoid said lever means against the force of said heat motor and to move said lever means to rock said supporting member to change the position of said valve.

3. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a fuel flow controlling valve biased to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a heat motor carried by said supporting member and operatively connected to said valve to move said valve to open position, a pair of levers normally held against movement relative to each other and operable to hold said supporting member in position for operation of said valve by said heat motor, one of said levers being operatively connected to said supporting member, means responsive to a characteristic of the burner heated medium, means operatively connecting said responsive means to the other of said levers so that movement of said responsive means will rock said supporting member to close said valve, and manual means operable to change the position of said one lever relative to said other lever thereby to rock said supporting member to movesaid valve toward open position.

4. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a fuel flow controlling valve biased to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a heat motor carried by said supporting member and operatively connected to said valve to move said valve to open position, automatically acting compensating means carried by and operable to change the position of said supporting member in accordance with ambient temperature affecting said heat motor, a lever engaging said compensating means to hold said supporting member in position for operation of said valve by said heat motor, and thermostatic means acting through said lever and said compensating means to change the position of said supporting member thereby to actuate said valve.

5. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a fuel flow controlling valve biased to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a heat motor carried by said supporting member and operatively connected to said valve to move said valve to open position, a lever holding said supporting member in position for operation of said valve by said heat motor, a second lever supporting and operable to move said first-named lever, thermostatic means for moving said second lever thereby to rock said supporting member for actuation of said valve, and means to move said first-named lever relative to said second lever thereby to rock said supporting member for actuation of said valve.

6. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a fuel flow controlling valve biased to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a heat motor carried by said supporting member and openatively connected to said valve to move said valve to open position, a shaft, a lever pivoted on said shaft and holding said supporting member in position for operation of said valve by said heat motor, a second lever pivoted on said shaft, a cam member carried by one of said levers and engaging the other of said levers to transmit movement of said second lever to said first-named lever, and thermostatic means for moving said second lever thereby to rock said supporting member for actuation of said valve, said cam member being operable upon rotation to move said first-named lever relative to said second lever thereby to rock said supporting member for actuation of said valve.

'7. A device for controlling the flow of fuel to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a reciprocable valve having a longitudinally movable stem, a cylindrical magnet apertured for movement of said stem therethrough and surrounding said stem, an armature on said stem cooperable with said magnet to urge said valve to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a bimetal heat motor having one end fixed to said supporting member and having its other end engaging said armature to move said valve to open position, a supporting shaft, an actuating lever journaled on said shaft, an adjustable abutment member carried by said lever, a bimetal compensating member carried by and having one end fixed to said rockable supporting member and having its other end engagin said abutment member thereby to position said supporting member for operation of said valve by said heat motor, an operating and supporting lever iournaled on said shaft, 9. manual operating member rotatably carried by said operating lever and having an eccentric cam, said actuating lever having a slot receiving said cam, the slot side Walls being engageable by said cam to move said actuating lever relative to said operating lever thereby to rock said supporting member to open said valve, a temperature responsive power element, a lever movable by said element and having parallel arms, a rod extending between said arms, a link pivotally connected to and connecting said rod to said operating lever, a stop member engageable by said operating lever, and a spring having one end secured to said rod to hold said operating lever against said stop member and to resist movement of said operating lever by said power element, said power element acting upon temperature increase irrespective of the position of said actuating lever relative to said operating lever to rock said supporting member for closure of said valve.

8. A device for controlling the fuel supply to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a fuel flow controlling valve biased to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a flat bimetallic heat motor carried by and having one end fixed to said supporting member and having its other end operatively connected to said valve to move said valve to open position, an electric heating element for said heat motor, a lever holding said supporting member in position for operation of said valve by said heat motor, a second lever, a cam member carried by one of said levers and engaging the other of said levers to transmit movement of said second lever to said first-named lever, and thermostatic means for moving said second lever thereby to rock said supporting member for actuation of said valve, said cam member being operable upon rotation to move said first-named lever relative to said second lever thereby to rock said supporting member for actuation of said valve.

9. A device for controlling the flow of fuel to the burner of a heating apparatus comprising a reciprocal valve having a longitudinally movable stem, a magnet mounted adjacent said stem, an armature on said stem cooperable with said magnet to urge said valve to closed position, a rockable supporting member, a bimetal heat motor having one end fixed to said supporting member and having its other end cooperable with said stem to move said valve to open position, an electric heating element carried by said motor, an

actuating lever, an abutment member carried by said lever, a bimetal compensating member carried by and having one end fixed to said rockable supporting member and having its other end engaging said abutment member thereby to position said supporting member for operation of said valve by said heat motor, an operating and supporting lever, a manual operating member rotatably carried by said operating lever and having an eccentric cam, said actuating lever having a slot receiving said cam, the slot side walls being engageable by said cam to move said actuating lever relative to said operating lever thereby to rock said supporting member to open said valve, a temperature responsive power element, a lever movable by said element, a link pivotally connected to and connecting said lastnamed lever to said operating lever, and a spring resisting movement of said operating lever by 

